With the Promise of Always
by Midnight-Malediction
Summary: When the hearts of men twist with grasping sorrows and are enveloped in darkness evermore, a wanted fugitive will rise and offer promise to the days yet to come. But he will face his most dangerous enemy; a man who holds his very life in the palm of hands
1. Prequel

Chapter One

Darkness engulfed the young sorcerer. He couldn't think or open his eyes and his body felt numb and cold. For a moment, he thought he was dead, but the frantic beating of his heart in his ears convinced him otherwise. Cold fear ran through his veins and his deep, cerulean eyes were flowing with tears. Not because of pain; but disgrace. He no longer knew where he was, but the cold salty water that washed over him was enough for him to realize that he was no longer in the Iifa Tree.

He had welcomed his death in the Iifa Tree. It was the only thing he deserved, the only reward for the numerous crimes he had committed so willingly. It was such a strange feeling... welcoming something he had once tried so hard to avoid; admitting defeat and accepting his inevitable fate.

Admitting defeat...

What happened to Zidane? Did he make it out of the Iifa Tree? Was he alive as well? Why did he come back for somebody who was doomed to die? The sorcerer's death had been marked since before his birth. Surely his brother knew of such things, or was he just too dense to realize the reality of his destiny? That he, not Kuja, was to be the best Angel of Death.

Kuja tried to open his eyes, yet his body had been drained of all it's stamina. The tips of his fingers were so cold that he could no longer feel them and wave after wave of icy water kept crashing on his frail body. He began to wonder if he was going to drown or freeze to death.

His body had begun to shut down yet his mind was rapid. His mind raced with the thoughts of the destruction and chaos he had caused. The people whom he had killed, the lives he ruined, those left homeless due to the war. He remembered watching impassively as enemy soldiers tried to crawl helplessly away; flesh opened, organs and bone exposed, and a trail of blood which followed in their wake. He had not taken pity on those soldiers, he had followed their trails and killed them all with a heartlessness that now made Kuja cringe.

He thought back to the woman who's organ's had spilled out before her when the sorcerer's mighty silver dragon sliced her belly open. He thought of the man who lost his village and family when Kuja had burned it all to ash; the man was missing half his face and an eyeball dangled disgustingly from his socket and still Kuja had no remorse; he killed him on the spot...

It angered him that he was thinking of such things now. Why should it matter to him now? He could not change the things he had done, yet the memories kept coming and the agony which he felt was unending. Images of the death he had caused echoed

throughout the corners of his mind like shadowy whispers in the dark...

Just then, he heard faint voices around him, voices that were very unfamiliar to him. He could feel pressure being applied to his limp body. He tried to cry out but his voice had betrayed him. He then felt something hard collide into his skull and slowly drifted off into unconsciousness.

A young woman sat in the front seat of a caravan being pulled by four chocobos. She gripped the reins tightly, tense. She kept her eyes ahead of her and tried not to pay any attention to the painful screams behind her in the wagon. The chocobos treaded carefully, nervous of the stranger in the caravan. The woman occasionally spoke to the chocobos as if they were frightened children to calm their nerves.

The young woman of twenty years wore a flowing gown of silver. Her long hair, like the darkest spun silk, twisted behind her in the wind. Her eyes were a smokey lavender color and she had porcelain skin, delicately pointed ears, and soft features. Her body was rather willowy and she had an aura that seemed timeless in grace.

She scanned the plains ahead for any sign of the rest of her group. She cursed silently to herself for getting separated from them. If only she and her brother had paid attention and hadn't spent so much time in Conde Petie, she thought to herself, then they'd be with the rest of the nomads right now.

Just then, a man came out from the back of the caravan and sat next to the woman. He was no older than twenty-seven and had a notably angular and elegant physique. His dark hair was tied back tightly and he had ash-grey eyes which twinkled hypnotically. He wore an elegant doublet that was the color of ivy in the winter and a pair of black trousers. The sunlight lovingly caressed his face, sharpening the strong lines of his jaw, and etching his cheekbones.

"How is he doing?" the woman asked, noticing the man's blood-stained hands. She turned her attention back in front of her.

"I was able to dress his wounds," he replied simply. "I think his injuries are more internal though. As soon as we find the others, we'll get him to the clerics."

The woman nodded. "I think I will go see him. Perhaps later he can tell us what happened or..."

"Sister," the man interrupted, "I don't think that would be wise. We have no idea who he is or where he came from, Aliiza. Our Elder would not think highly of me if he knew I let you near him. He could wake up and..."

"Kaayin," Aliiza said calmly, "he's injured. I doubt he has the strength to lift a finger let alone kill us."

"He was covered in gaping wounds," Kaayin said sternly. "He could be a convict sentenced to death or banished from his country for crimes he may have committed. We shouldn't take our chances. We don't know anything about this man." Kaayin folded his arms across his chest. "The least we could do is give him a chance at survival, but I don't want us to get any more involved then we all ready are."

"But seeing that he is well isn't a crime," she said bitterly.

With that said, Aliiza handed the reigns to her brother and pulled back the burgundy cotton sheet that separated the inside of the caravan from the driver's seat and climbed inside before her brother could stop her. The air was thick with the smell of blood and numerous bloody rags and bandages laid in a pile on the opposite end of the caravan.

The young man whom she and her brother had rescued on the shore near the Iifa Tree lied motionlessly on a thin cotton blanket to her right. He was a pale, thin man, who was subtler than freshly fallen snow. His dove-feathered hair was a tangled mess; his skin, which had been marred with fresh blood and dirt, was now clean. But death was upon the poor soul like an unseasonable frost. The color in his lips and cheeks had become more pallid and his breathing had turned into small gasps as he fought to stay alive.

Aliiza moved cautiously towards the blanket. In truth, she was terrified of this stranger. It was the first time she had ever laid eyes on someone like him before. She turned her eyes away from the man's face when she noticed his silver tail twitch suddenly.

She furrowed her eyebrows and whispered, "Just what are you, anyways?" She slowly reached towards his silver hair and picked up a snow-white feather to examine. "An angel?"

The caravan suddenly jerked to a stop and the chocobos began to 'kewh" jubilantly.

"Aliiza!" Kaayin shouted back. "I've found the others!"


	2. A Life so Changed

Kuja opened his ocean-like eyes a slit and lazily pushed aside the sage-green coverlets before sitting up in his cot. He sat there for a moment, his long silver hair tangled in his face, letting his eyes adjust to the light which shone through the caravan's thin covering. He stretched and yawned as he fumbled with the clothes at the foot of his bed before lethargically putting them on.

He dressed in his usual apparel; a pair of steel-blue trousers, an ivory long-sleeved linen tunic that looked two sizes to big for him, and black boots before combing his thin fingers through his hair. He gathered his silver tresses and twisted them into a single braid before stepping over to the other side of the caravan where the chests and bags of supplies laid.

The nomads he now traveled with were gracious enough to give him his own caravan to sleep in though it also doubled as the caravan where some of the group's supplies were held. Even though the sorcerer was used to living a comfortable life fitted for a king, Kuja never complained of this. He didn't mind it. He was grateful for what they had done for him.

Kuja bent over a burlap sack filled with dried fruit, but as he reached inside, the bag twitched suddenly and a small cry uttered inside the bag.

"Ryuu!" Kuja said as he began to smile, reaching his hand into the bag. "Get out of there. You know you're not supposed to crawl into the sacks of food."

With a quick motion of his hand, Kuja caught the creature in the bag and pulled it out, revealing a tiny dragon. His serpentine body stretched the length from the sorcerer's elbow to the tips of his fingers. The dragon had thin almandine colored scales which shaded lighter on his underside. He had thin membranous wings, a small mouth, fine sharp teeth, and a series of small tendrils which extended from the back of it's head. The dragon's pearl-grey colored eyes gazed up at Kuja with naiveté.

"Don't give me that look, Ryuu," Kuja chided. "You know I'll be the one to blame if anyone else found out you were snooping through the food sacks." He let the small dragon climb up his arm and onto his other shoulder. "I swear you're more trouble than the nomad children."

Ryuu snapped his jaws as Kuja reached into the bag for a handful of dried fruit. Sighing, he gave the dragon a piece before pulling back the cover at the end of the caravan and jumping out.

The air was drowsy with the perfume of wild flowers and the faint droning of insects. The sorcerer gazed out at the ampitheater of mountains that surrounded him and took a deep breath. Every morning he enjoyed waking up to this; it was his new life and new home. No one knew who he really was on this continent and he liked that. Had he been living on the Mist Continent, that would've been a different story.

Kuja circled around the caravan and gazed out at the nomad's heard of chocobos and the other thirty or so caravans that made up their camp site for the week. Every week the nomads would pack up and move elsewhere to find new grazing sites for their chocobos or go to small towns or villages to trade goods. It wasn't an easy life, but the nomads were hardy and carefree which Kuja had come to admire.

Ryuu made a small growling noise before stretching out his wings and taking flight. Kuja smiled and watched as the little dragon glided through the air easily and gained elevation, enjoying the sunlight on his wings. It was three years ago when the nomads had saved Kuja's life. While he was in their care, the Elder had showed the sorcerer a mysterious egg that they had found in an abandoned cave in the mountains near Conde Petie. Kuja immediately recognized it as a dragon's egg and when it hatched, the dragonling took an instant liking to Kuja. The Elder gave the dragonling to him as a gift seeing as to how Kuja had a strong affinity and bond with the creature.

"You're up early as always," said a soft, silver-sweet voice from behind the sorcerer.

Kuja glanced back and smiled at the woman who had interrupted his thoughts.

She wore a flowing gown the color of ripe plums and damson with a mulberry-black sash around her waist. Her wrists were laden with silver and amethyst and she wore a small white opal pendant around her neck. Her smokey lavender eyes met his and she tilted her head back and closed her eyes, reveling in the sun's warm light. Her face had all the grace of a renegade angel.

"I don't blame you though," she began, "Who'd want to miss the this?" She opened her eyes again to stare at the early morning sky. "It's beautiful."

"You shouldn't sneak up on people like that, Aliiza," Kuja said as she looked at him again. "Need help getting the chocobos rounded up?"

Aliiza smiled and nodded her head. "It's a three day trip to the coast from here, might as well start early and prepare the chocobos." She tucked a loose strand of black hair behind her ear and stared at the damask cover of the caravan behind her. "My brother is coming to help. He'll be here shortly."

It took about three hours to round up the chocobos and get them hooked up to the caravans. The nomad children darted and ran around the caravans chasing each other as they waited for everything to get packed up so they could move on. One child in particular, whom Kuja had become fond of, broke off from the other children and their games and ran over to Kuja, tugging on his tail to get his attention.

"Kuja!" the little girl exclaimed.

The sorcerer glanced down at the little girl named Talia and flicked his tail out of her grasp. She was only six years old, but she was wise beyond years. She had large green eyes and blonde hair that was fashioned into pigtails. She wore a white blouse and a silk pea-green skirt and sandals. Like all the other nomads, she had the small delicately pointed ears and high cheekbones which gave her an exotic appearance.

"I want to ride in the caravan with you and Ryuu!" she spurted. "Elder said it was okay!"

Kuja nodded. "Hop on up," he said as he moved to the side so the little girl could climb into the driver's seat. "Ryuu is all ready up there waiting."

Talia's parents had died when she was just three years old when they were attacked by a gang of bandits. The Elder took care of Talia just as he had done for Kaayin and Aliiza when their parents fell ill and passed away fifteen years ago, but Talia spent most of her time with Kuja and even though the sorcerer didn't care for children much, he liked Talia's company and made her an exception.

As Kuja fed the chocobos gysahl greens, a man stepped out of the caravan a little ways ahead of his own and stretched his arms. He had short grey hair, a wrinkled face, and hazel eyes. He wore a pair of dark grey trousers, brown leather boots, and a light brown ulster coat. Upon his right hand, he wore a very large pyrope garnet ring and on his left hand he wore an equally large topaz ring.

"Kuja, my lad!" he said jovially, walking towards the sorcerer. "Is everything set and ready to go?"

"Hello, Elder!" Talia exclaimed exuberantly as she stood up in her seat with Ryuu draped around her shoulders.

The Elder smiled up at her as Kuja motioned for her to sit back down. "You're going to fall, sit back down," Kuja said before turning back to the Elder. "Yes, sir. Everything is packed and the chocobos are ready to go whenever you are."

"Wonderful," the Elder laughed, scratching the chocobo closest to him behind the ear. "Let me just check up on the others and we'll be on our way."

Kuja climbed up into the driver's seat next to Talia and picked up the reigns. Ryuu, who had been lying in Talia's lap, gazed up at Kuja and yawned before laying his head back down on her lap as she began to stroke the area between the dragon's wings.

The day passed slowly as Kuja and the nomads made their way across the plains. The nomad children who were restless walked outside beside the caravans and pretended to be knights, fencing with each other will sticks until their mothers called them back inside to rest and drink water. By the afternoon, when the heat of the day was at it's highest, the nomads stopped to give the chocobos a break and then went back on their way to the coast.

"Kuja?" asked Talia when Ryuu decided to fly off to stretch his wings.

"Yes?"

"What's a Krakken?" she asked, her eyes lit with curiosity. "I heard one of the boys saying how I shouldn't stray too far from the shore when we get to the sea or the Krakkens might come and eat me!"

Kuja chuckled and shook his head. "Don't worry, Talia. Krakken don't live in the sea we're going to. You'll be safe."

"But what do they look like?"

"They are the color of murky green water and have many long tentacles to snatch it's prey up with," Kuja replied as he looked at Talia. "Their tentacles are longer than this-" he spread his arms all the way out and watched as the girl's eyes widened. "They are twice as big as this caravan and are uglier than Gigan Toads!"

The little girl giggled. "What are Gigan Toads?"

"They are giant oversized toads," Kuja said simply. "They live in the marshes and they have long sticky tongues and they could easily snatch up a Moogle and eat them whole!" The girl opened her mouth in surprise and Kuja continued. "But that's not the scariest thing about them! They have these large yellow eyes that are bigger than your head and they look all crossed like this-" Kuja crossed his eyes, stuck out his tongue, and made a deep croaking sound.

The little girl burst out into laughter and mimicked him, which made Kuja laugh with her.

"What's so funny?" Aliiza asked as she pulled her caravan up beside Kuja's.

Kuja glanced over at her then back at Talia. The two of them turned to Aliiza and made their Gigan Toad faces and croaked. Aliiza caught off guard, dissolved into laughter and shook her head.

"You two are so strange," Aliiza said.

"I'm gonna go tell those boys about the Krakken!" Talia announced as she jumped down from the moving caravan and ran to the caravans behind them.

Kuja turned back towards Aliiza and noticed that Kaayin wasn't there. "Where's your brother?"

Aliiza shrugged and tossed her long hair back. "Off hunting again. He took off to the west towards the forested areas to hunt game bird." She took out a small jug of water and drank, wiping the sweat from her brow. "Today's a scorcher. You still have plenty of water?"

Kuja nodded. "More than enough, thank you."

Aliiza smiled and set her jug back down. "You know, it never ceases to surprise me. You've been all over the world and have seen so many things." Kuja looked at her questioningly. "I mean, I have spent my whole life traveling this continent with the other nomads. I haven't seen nearly as much as you and the stories you tell of those far away places sound so exciting." She stopped for a moment, realizing that she was blabbering on. "I wish that someday I can see the world just as you have," she finished.

"You can," Kuja began. "I'll take you all over Gaia if you wish."

"How?"

The sorcerer stopped and remembered that he no longer had an airship or his silver dragon. He suddenly felt stupid as he tried to think of a way he could show Aliiza around the world. It was the least he could do for her after she saved his life.

"Someday I'll find a way," he explained as he looked up at the cloudless sky.

Aliiza nodded. "All right," she said happily. "I look forward to that day then."


	3. Not a Mindless Puppet

Kuja's breath echoed off the dark stonewalls of what looked to be a prison cell. He had no idea what he was doing there, but had to break out of this place. The sorcerer focused his magical energy into a single attack; flare. He aimed at the far end of his cell and released it, watching as the magic hit the wall and vanished. But that wasn't what surprised Kuja most; it was the fact that he knew his magic was no longer as strong as it once was and he suddenly felt tired. What happened?

Kuja gasped, the air burning his lungs. His legs felt weak and he dropped to his knees, his pulse pounding across his temples. He wiped an arm across his eyes and licked his dry lips. This was impossible, he thought.

"It won't work," said a cold, indifferent voice from behind the sorcerer.

Kuja's eyes snapped in the direction of the voice. In the pale moonlight that shone down from the tiny window, Kuja noticed a man cloaked in darkness. The only thing he could see was the man's bright, startling green eyes, which flashed up at Kuja.

"What did you say?" Kuja asked, getting back on his feet.

"It won't work," the man said simply. "Because you're not really here."

Kuja paused a moment and looked around. "You mean this is a dream?"

"Your body is sleeping," he explained, "but I'm sending you this message from Alexandria prison."

Kuja glared at the cloaked figure. "Why? Who are you?"

The man chuckled. "I think the question here should be who are _you_?" The man pointed a black leather gloved finger in the sorcerer's direction. "You are no longer the same man you were three years ago. Have you forgotten who you are? Your purpose?"

"I am Kuja of Terra!" he hissed. "My purpose died the day Zidane was created. I am merely a broken toy cast aside by my creator! I have no purpose anymore!"

"Then wouldn't you like to create a new purpose for yourself?" the figure asked and Kuja could've swore he heard a familiar accent in his voice.

Kuja opened his mouth to speak but his mind raced with the thoughts of the nomads. His new purpose was to keep them safe? Right? They saved his life after all? No, that wasn't it. What was it?

"Don't tell me you think your purpose is to be with those nomads!" the figure cackled. "Kuja, the first Angel of Death, has a soft spot and cares for others? After all I heard about you, I thought you were the vain, narcissistic type."

Kuja bit his lip to hold back from shouting. Though he could not see the figure's face, he knew the man was smiling smugly.

"Is this some kind of joke you're playing at?" the cloaked figure asked vehemently. "You want redemption, so you pretend that you're a changed man and that you actually care for those pitiful beings of Gaia? Is that it?" The figure cackled again.

"You know nothing!" Kuja spat.

"Garland had marked out your life before your birth," the figure hissed. "You tried to break away from him and create your own path, trying to follow your own inclination." The bright green eyes flickered in Kuja's direction. "And you failed." The cloaked figure stood up suddenly. "In truth, you should've died that day in the Iifa Tree. Your brother should've died too. There was no way for you both to escape the Iifa Tree's prison."

"Then how did I wind up on the shore?"

"Because of me," he replied.

Thoughts crept into Kuja's mind, as cold as the air, which filled the prison cell. His heart raced with trepidation. Kuja opened and clenched his hands into fists, feeling desperate and empty.

"Using the dregs of souls which still lingered at the bottom of the Iifa Tree," the man began, "I was able to extend your life. I left you on the shore, knowing that two nomads were heading in that direction and would find you." The man began to circle around Kuja. "With my remaining energy, I took your brother to Daguerreo to recover."

"If you're a good guy," Kuja started, "then why are you rotting in this cell in Alexandria?"

The figure stopped suddenly and gazed up at the soft moonlight shining down on him from the window. "Because of Garland."

Kuja's heart felt as if it had sunk in his chest. "Garland?"

"Listen to me, Kuja," the figure turned to face the sorcerer, "Garland is not dead and not all is as it seems…"

"Where's Zidane?" Kuja interrupted.

"Here in Alexandria," the figure replied, "with his beloved Queen. He arrived about a week ago. I haven't much time to explain…"

"Where's Garland?" Kuja growled.

The figure shook his cloaked head. " I do not know." The figure took a step towards Kuja. "Garland created you so that there could only be one thing which you were fitted to be; a murderer." Kuja felt the figure's piercing stare and looked up to face him. "Yet, you offer hope. You are not a mindless puppet of Garland and you can avoid the purpose Garland had intended for you if you so desired."

There came a nervous tingling sensation in Kuja's arms and the sorcerer noticed the cloaked man tense. The figure's eyes began looking around the cell as if searching for something. Then suddenly, he froze.

"What's going on?" Kuja asked.

The green eyes flashed towards Kuja. "Look out!"

Suddenly there came a loud shrill scream and Kuja was wrapped in darkness.

Kuja's eyes snapped open to the sound of screaming and roaring flames outside his caravan. The sorcerer's heart pounded in his ears as he flung aside the covering of the caravan and jumped out. Flames danced around the nomad's campsite, consuming everything and strange shadowy wolf-like creatures were attacking the nomads who tried to flee. It was as if the creatures used the fire to trap the nomads into coming toward the shadowy creatures.

Left and right Kuja could hear the growling beasts and the screams of nomads who fell into the trap. The sorcerer immediately focused his magic and made a run towards the next closest caravan. He peaked around the edge and heard the screams of children huddled under a caravan fifty feet away. The sorcerer immediate began to run to them when a pair of gold eyes caught the sorcerer's attention.

The wolf-like creature moved around him, eyes blazing. The creature approached the sorcerer and then vanished, appearing behind Kuja until the sorcerer turned to face it, before disappearing again.

"Why don't you attack, beast!" Kuja shouted. His hands twitched, ready for the precise moment to strike.

The sorcerer then saw the creature take form against the fires, which surrounded the camp. The creature was of the purest black with broad shoulders and large soundless paws. Its teeth were bared and dripping with saliva. It emitted a heat-stopping growl, which made the ground tremor.

Suddenly, a silver blade sliced downward, faster than Kuja's eyes could follow and went right through the creature, getting stuck in the ground beneath it. Kaayin stood there dumfounded for a moment. The blade went right through the beast as if it were made of air.

"Kaayin get out of the way!" Kuja yelled.

The creature raised its large paw to strike as Kuja released a shock of energy, which made the creature bound away several hundred feet in seconds.

"What's going on?" Kuja shouted over the roaring flames.

"I don't know!" Kaayin shouted back, pulling his sword from the ground. "They came out of nowhere!" He spotted the children huddled under the caravan and turned to Kuja. "Look after them, I'm going to look for the Elder and Aliiza!"

And with that, he was gone. Kuja took several steps towards the caravan when all of a sudden the beast attacked him from behind, pinning the sorcerer down on the ground. Kuja gasped as the air exploded from his lungs, the creatures weight on his chest. He struggled for a moment, gathering energy before placing his shaking hands on the creature's monstrous chest and launching a flare attack. The creature fell lifelessly on the ground beside him and Kuja, struggling to catch his breath, got to his feet.

"Kuja!" a quivering voice called.

The sorcerer lowered his blood-splattered head at the child clutching his leg. "Talia get back!" he shouted, "it's not safe!"

The little girl reluctantly let go and moved back towards the caravan with the other children. By this time, several of the adults had made it to the safe caravan and clutched the children tightly, trying to calm them with tears in their eyes.

In the corner of his eye, Kuja spotted another one of the creatures bent over a dead nomad, tearing away flesh. Its fangs, dripping with blood, tore into the victim, ripping chunks of flesh away. Not far away, another creature raised its black head and stepped away from a lifeless chocobo and roar as if issuing a challenge and Kuja answer the challenge with palms raised, casting spells in their direction, extinguishing the flames and lighting up the camp with his own residual magical energy.

He hunted down every single one until all that was left was silence.


End file.
